


Further Complications

by ozymandiamos



Category: Better Call Saul (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Highschool AU, Multi, this is really a slowburn, when i say slowburn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-04-22
Updated: 2015-07-04
Packaged: 2018-03-23 13:36:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 14,028
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3770299
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ozymandiamos/pseuds/ozymandiamos
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The highschool!AU that no one ever asked for. Jimmy Mcgill is an ex-delinquent student trying to find his place at Samoa Academy. But between doing shitty schoolwork and trying to get onto the prestigious debate team, it always seems like the odds are stacked against him. Will Jimmy continue to do good work and stay on the right side of things for his brother? Or will he cut the corners and slip right back into his old self?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Hard to Live in the City

**Author's Note:**

> ai’ght first off im so sorry about the school name (wtf me) and second off thank each n every one of u that is reading this thing!! thank you!!!  
> blah blah blah disclaimer here I do not own BCS blah blah vince gilligan is an evil man blah blah all that stuff--so have fun, strap on ur seatbelt… pray to God and lets hope this is good

There was definitely a sharp, acrid smell in the New Mexico air that Jimmy couldn’t quite place his finger on. It was like a combination of burning asphalt and the few desert plants decaying in the sun. And sweat. Asphalt, plants, and sweat. But the sweat was probably coming from Jimmy. He’s only been outside for a few minutes and it was already starting to soak through his shirt. It seemed like the summertime heat went on for the entire year in this hell hole. 

And boy, what a hell hole this place was.

The building that was supposed to be Samoa Academy looked anything but. Red brick and iron fences that have been lightened by the sun made up most of the establishment. It looked like all of the old schools and universities back east Jimmy would see in Chicago. Not that Jimmy was nostalgic or anything about his hometown. He was actually thankful that he wasn’t back in Cicero right now. 

But standing in the middle of the desert with all of his belongings in his bag and his new high school in front of him made Cicero sound like Heaven compared to this godforsaken wasteland. He looked up to the pale blue sky, almost wishing that he could take his bag and go off to the town nearby and live on the street instead. It sounded promising.

“Jimmy!” 

Alas, the promising illusion was shattered.

Jimmy looked down to see his older brother walking toward him, wearing what the school uniform was underneath his varsity jacket. 

“Hey, Chuck.” Jimmy grinned, his face lighting up at the sight of him. Even though Chuck could be a real hardass, he was still one of Jimmy’s best friends. The two of them stuck together through thick and thin. Through good and bad. Because that’s what brothers do. They stuck by each other.

“I take it that Mom dropped you off.” Chuck said.

“Yeah, like ten minutes ago.”

“That long? Why didn't you call me?"

"I wanted to make you wait in suspense." Jimmy answered sarcastically. He wiggled his hands, ”Adds to the whole anticipation of your younger brother comin’ to your private school, y’know?" 

Chuck rolled his eyes. ”I'm surprised Mom survived the whole car ride over here. Especially with you in the backseat probably talking the whole time.” He made a tsk, before asking, “How is she? Mom?”

Jimmy shrugged, not so keen to talk about her. “She’s fine. Just, y’know, doing Mom things. Still buying from the shopping network and clippin’ the coupons so…” He gave a short laugh. “She’s doing good. Yeah.”

Chuck nodded. The two brothers were silent for a moment, a rare occurrence between them. Jimmy typically did all of the talking; he had a special knack for it. It was the one thing that really seemed to annoy his older brother. But now he was quiet. And with a good reason. Jimmy could almost feel the weight of whatever conversation Chuck wanted them to have. 

"You should've called me if you were going to stand outside in the sun for ten minutes." Chuck lightly scolded, walking up the stairs to the school as Jimmy struggled with his bags. “I would have come and gotten you.”

“Yeah?” Jimmy huffed. “Well I guess I didn’t really wanna bother you. Like I know you're probably busy doin’ school work or something.”

“Not as of late. Especially with all the stuff that you’ve been getting into.” 

The tone of Chucks voice told Jimmy he was skating on thin ice. Already? He barely even got here and yet it was like he was being shamed for what he’s done. It was bullshit. It made his blood boil. But still. He tip-toed around the subject.

“So, uh, what classes am I gonna take anyways? Psychology? No-wait. That’s not even a high school class. My bad. What about some algebra two? Or was it trig? Y’know I really don’t know if theres a difference between trig and-“

“Jimmy.” Chucks eyes bore into his younger brothers, shutting him up. “Everything that you’ve done, or ever did, that’s over. Now that you’re here, I want you to remember. You’ve squandered away your second chances. There are  _no_  second chances. Not here anyways. Do  _not_  make a fool out of me Jimmy.”

 “I-Chuck,” Jimmy swallowed. “I promise. I’ll do whatever you say.”

“It’s out of my hands  _now_  about what you do. If you want to get kicked out of here and sent to military school instead, fine. But I’m not letting you ruin this for me. None of that crap you pulled back home is gonna be tolerated here." 

“I swear Chuck," Jimmy pleaded, "Slippin’ Jimmy is dead. He’s back in Cicero, totally dead. Forever. I promise.”

The look Chuck gave was full of suspicion. It turned softer, however, and he simply sighed at his younger brother. 

“Like I said-“

“No funny business. I got it. You don’t have to tell me twice.” Jimmy said. He put his index and middle finger up in a pledge. “I would swear to God on a Bible, but I don’t have one on me.”

“Look just- Go to the principal’s office and get your schedule. It’s already late and you haven’t even gotten to your room yet.”

“Fine, fine, okay Mom. I’m going. You don’t have to tell me twice.” Jimmy lifted his bag onto his shoulder, moving to the building that Chuck had pointed out.

“Wait. Jimmy.”

Jimmy turned, wondering if Chuck forgot to tell him something. He was just standing there, hands behind his back and looking more like a figure of authority than a high school student. The look he gave pretty much said all of the silent words he wanted to say to Jimmy, and Chuck opened his mouth and said only four words to him.

“Don’t screw this up.”

 

* * *

 

An hour and a half later (plus a full explanation on when and where his classes were), Jimmy began walking to where he would be living from now on. He was dragging his bag by now, the uniform that he got from the principal all bunched up under his arm. Who would’ve guessed that an hour and a half could be as boring as a whole school day?

 _I bet there’ll be plenty of boring days like this one._ Jimmy thought. He looked at the floral sticky note he got from the secretary on his way out. Room 17. That’s where he would be staying for the rest of the year.

Jimmy crumpled up the piece of paper, holding it in his fist. He kept thinking about Chuck and his words. Don’t screw this up. Other than the oh-so-obvious warning, there was something else there. A hidden connotation. Whatever it was it rubbed him the wrong way. It was like Chuck had a reputation to uphold, and he didn't want Jimmy to tarnish it. 

But Jimmy already promised he wouldn't. What more could Chuck ask from him? Was he supposed to be this perfect human being that somehow reinvented himself after all of the shit thats been happening? It took all of Jimmy’s will power not to get so angry about it. It didn’t matter. It shouldn’t matter. So he pushed the question out of his mind for now, focusing on his walk across the campus to the boys dormitory.

If the outside of Samoa looked like hell, then the boys dorm rooms were Satan’s Lair. Jimmy barely crossed the threshold of the place when a half-eaten sandwich whizzed by his head. There were people screaming, boys chasing each other with racquets and lacrosse sticks, what looked like a pile of crushed soda cans… It was absolute insanity.

Jimmy hefted his bag and trudged through the mess. He found his room, way at the end of the hall; Room 17. The door was open, showing that it looked exactly like the rest of the place. Clothes everywhere, empty cans… The only difference was the huge water heater tucked in the corner, leaving only enough space for two small beds and a battered dresser. Not exactly the kind of lifestyle Jimmy expected from a private school. But it was probably better than being sent to jail. 

A snore from one of the beds startled him out of his thinking, looking over only to see a big chubby guy fast asleep.  _So that’s who my roomie is gonna be…_  Jimmy thought. He set his bag down on the bed before leaning over to get a look at him. The guy was too far into his nap to be woken up by anything. It sucked. Jimmy was hoping he'd be awake so he could point him to the nearest food source. 

"Hey. Buddy. Hey. You awake?" Jimmy took the chance and nudged the guy a little. When that didn't work, he snapped his fingers once. Then twice… "Hey.  _Hey_. Are you gonna answer me?"

A low grunt came from the fat teen. "Answer this, butthole." He answered before sticking his middle finger right in Jimmy's face, eyes still closed. 

Jimmy leaned back, his face curling into a frown. "You know, most people typically say 'hello' when they meet someone new.” 

“You know, most people typically knock before entering.” The kid mocked. He rolled over and lifted himself up from his place on the bed, blinking groggily at Jimmy before bursting into laughter. “What the shit man? Did a raccoon make a nest on your head? Hey, the 1980’s called— they want their hairstyle back!”

“Hey, fuck you man.” Jimmy was insulted. “And what kinda hairstyle are you supposed to have? Middle-age balding man going through a midlife crisis?”

“It’s a shaved style dickweed! It’s supposed to look like that!” The kid pushed himself up from the bed, struggling a little. “It’s not like _you_ would know anyways. Not with your shit hairstyle.”

“Okay, okay! I get it! You fucking hate me, jesus christ.” Jimmy angrily flopped on his bed, too tired to deal with this bullshit.

The other guy was slightly taken aback. “Hey look- I never said I fuckin’ hate you. But.. You gotta admit... Your hairstyle _is_ shit.”

“Wow. Thanks. Great. Super nice to have a friend like you.”

The fatter teen sighed. “Hey. Look. The stuff I said was kinda rude of me-“

“A _lot_ rude-of-you.”

“Point taken. Seriously though. Dick move on my part. But you gotta give me some credit. It's not often a new guy comes into this room to live.”

Jimmy didn’t respond.

“I’m Marco.”

“Jimmy.”

“Jimmy huh? So I’m guessing that until we get to know each other a little better, I can’t call you Jimbo?” Marco joked. Jimmy let his guard down a little, cracking a smile.

“Even if we were friends I’d still punch you in the face for callin’ me Jimbo.” Jimmy shot back, pulling his bag close.

“So where’d you come from?” Marco asked. “Another town? City?”

“Try another state.” Jimmy unzipped his bag. “Cicero. Illinois.”

“Damn dude. You basically come from an entire world away. What even drove you to come all the way out to New Mexico hell land?”

“Just needed a change of scenery.” Jimmy lied through his teeth. “Y’know. Ma wants me to go to a good school, get a good education I guess.”

“You couldn’t find a good school back in Cicero?”

“Have you ever _seen_ where I lived? Plus, my mom just wanted to get me out of her sight for now so… ”

“Ah, I get you. That’s how it was with my mom too. Well, welcome to Samoa. Go land crabs,” Marco put his fist up in a halfhearted cheer. “And I’d be happy to help you out with anything or everything. Like possibly getting a haircut.”

“Ha ha. Very funny, very comedic of you.”

“No but seriously. I’m happy to help.” Marco said. “Now I hope that you haven’t eaten anything, ‘cause it’s about chow time for me. You gonna come or what?”

“You’re asking me if I want food? After sitting in a car starving for hours and hours?”

“I guess I’ll take that as a polite acceptance to my dinner invitation.”

 

* * *

 

It was clear that once Jimmy walked into the cafeteria there were already well established cliques at this school. People sat in tight knit groups and clusters, talking and laughing. Marco got the two of them trays of what looked like refined grey sewage. They both sat down at one of the far corner tables, away from everyone. 

"Now, since it's you're first day here at the watering hole, I'll give you some good old helpful tips about the hierarchy in this place. Because lets face it, you’re gonna need it.” Marco pointed to a table close by. "Those guys over there? Nerds. Geeks. Freaks. Or whatever you'd call 'em back in Illinois. Basically the smart kid looser type."

Jimmy looked at the table, occupied by kids wearing their uniforms tucked in and books in front of half of them. A few of them were playing a card game of sorts, and a couple others compared little collectible figurines. 

"They don't look like bad guys," Jimmy said. More to himself than anything. 

"Never said they were." Marco motioned his ring-adorned pinky to the table behind Jimmy. "But those guys might be." 

Jimmy turned, getting a quick glance at a table full of what looked like a bunch of gangbangers. They had gold chains and their shirt collars popped, some of them with their sleeves rolled up or even the sleeves cut off. 

"You might wanna stay away from them. Least for a little while. They usually jump new kids and take their shit."

“Oh jeez.”

“Ahh, you’ll be fine if you just travel with a lot of people and keep track of your bag. As long as you do that then you’re fine. Can’t guarantee that their leader won’t beat the shit out of you. He’s a fuckin’ psycho man.”

“Got it.” Jimmy gave another glance around the room. “Anyone else I should know about? Or is this school just segregated into gangs and the nerd crew?”

“I haven’t even gotten to the best one’s yet, jeez, hold your horses John Wayne.” Marco nodded. “See those guys? Over there?”

Jimmy craned his neck, spotting the table Marco was pointing out. It consisted of a bunch of teens with varsity jackets over their uniforms, all of them with a special emblem sewn on the back. “Yeah?”

“Debate team. They pretty much rule the school here. Probably because the guy who started it is rich as shit. Bunch of them are pricks though, so if I were you I wouldn’t even bother trying to make friends with them. Their heads are up their asses half the time."

Jimmy nodded. He scanned the crowd of the debate members. Only a couple of them stood out; an athletic-looking guy with a perfect smile and the bored looking girl sitting next to him. He was talking about something with the rest of the group while she was drawing on a piece of paper.

"Hamlin and Kim." 

"Huh?" Jimmy said. 

Marco just grinned. "Saw you looking at them. The guy there is Hamlin."

"The rich as shit guy?"

"Yeah. It’s like money falls right outta the sky for him.” Jimmy noticed the hint of bitterness in Marco’s voice. But he ignored it. 

“He’s just a typical popular boy with perfect friends and a perfect life. Like nothin’ can touch him… My advice to you is stay far the fuck away from that guy. Total dick.”

“Stay away. Right. Got it.” Jimmy nodded again.

“And the girl next to him," Marco motioned, "is Kim. She doesn't talk a lot to strangers…Actually, I don’t think she talks to anyone else unless its like, super important. So I guess you don't have to worry so much 'bout her as you do the others."

"She doesn't look like such a dick." Actually, Jimmy noticed, she looked out-of-place compared to the rest of her friends. Unlike all of the other club members she didn't have a jacket on, and her sleeves were rolled up all the way to her elbows. Clearly she didn’t care much about how different she looked. Which Jimmy thought was pretty cool. In his book anyways. For some odd, silly reason. 

“Yeah, she’s s’alright. But still. I guess take caution with her. You never know with those guys.”

Jimmy took note of that. He took his lingering eyes off of Kim before spotting Chuck, walking to the table that he and Marco were talking about. No way.  _No way_.

“Holy shit.” Jimmy bowed his head in the hopes that he wouldn't be spotted by his older brother. “Ah, jeez-No way. Holy  _shit_.” 

“What?” Marco asked, urgently.

“It’s- Chuck is-“ 

“Chuck? Mcgill?” Marco turned, “Oh. Yea, that’s Chuck alright. Captain of the team. He’s okay, but sometimes he can be a real hardass. Like for the most stupidest shit- wait. Wait wait—“ he looked back at Jimmy, eyes wide. “Aren’t you a newbie? How the hell do you even know him? ”

Jimmy laced his hands behind his neck, making a face. Might as well tell him. “He’s my brother. I kinda- well, I pretty much got into this place because of him.”

Marco’s eyes were wide. “You got to be shitting me dude! Jimmy Mcgill?  _Seriously_?”

“That’s my name, don’t wear it out now.”

A laugh escaped from Marco. He leaned forward, still giggling. “Holy _shit_ , the great Chuck Mcgill’s got a brother! I didn’t think that a delinquent like you’d be related to someone like him!”

“Not exactly a  _delinquent_.” Jimmy commented, a slightly irritated tone to his voice. 

“I’m messing, I’m joking with you Jims,” Marco bumped his fist against Jimmy’s arm, pinky ring brushing his skin. “Hey. Look at it this way. Being related to the captain of the debate team must mean you got a free ticket, right? Entry into the club, huh?”

“Why would I wanna get into a club with my brother?”

“Trust me,” Marco got a spoonful of his slop. “By the time this week is over, you’ll be making up a whole bunch of schemes to get into that damn thing.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> well thats the end of this chapter, remember to rate the chapter, kudos the chapter, n comment if u want more chapters similar to this one. see ya.


	2. I Get Along

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> chapter 2 a.k.a a super slow roll intro to all of ur fav characters +jim jam doing school and sucking ass at listening

The next morning Jimmy was startled awake to the sound of boys screaming and odd thumping sounds coming from the other room. Just exactly how he fell asleep. He closed his eyes again, scrunching them tight in the hopes that he would be transported somewhere else. Belize. Belize sounded nice…But before Jimmy could even think about sleeping on tropical beaches, he was smacked in the face with what looked like a pair of gray pants.

“Get up Jim Jam! _C’mon_ , man, I’m already wakin’ you up on your first fuckin’ day here?” Marco said. “You’re not even dressed— Christ, its like I’m your babysitter.”

Jimmy whinned, sliding the pants off his face. He didn’t have the energy to get up, much less get dressed. Marco was already dressed, scrambling around and tossing clothes aside. He tossed another piece of clothing toward Jimmy, hitting him in the face again.

“Damn man, I’m awake I’m _awake_! Just stop tossin’ my clothes…” Jimmy grabbed his uniform, pulling it on one pant leg at a time. God, he was just so tired. Probably all of that traveling and the lack of sleep from last night… Laying awake thinking about how he got into this mess and trying to fall asleep next to a rumbling water heater really took its toll.

A few minutes later the two boys shuffled out of the dorms and into the fresh air. The temperature was already hot for so early in the morning, which just confirmed Jimmy’s suspicion that New Mexico was nothing but a hell on earth. He wondered what it was like back home in the middle of October. Freezing cold probably. Jimmy kicked at a dirt rock on the ground, watching it bounce around before it came to a stop next to a guys foot. He was leaning on the wall, slouched, hands in his pockets and his bright eyes glaring harshly at Jimmy. He was clearly part of the gangster clique that Marco warned about. Even with his short stature he looked ready to deck his ass in the middle of the courtyard.

Jimmy kept walking, averting his eyes and trying to look like he didn’t want any trouble. That was the last thing he needed; getting into a scuffle with one of the gangster-type of guys. Chuck would be mad- no. He would be throughly pissed if he did. There’s no way Jimmy would fuck this up by fighting a guy who looked at him the wrong way. It would be a pathetic excuse.

Jimmy looked back to get one more look at the guy, just to see if he was still staring at him. The thuggish teenager took the heel of his boot and crushed the dirt rock into nothing but dust. Jimmy turned his head forward and walked faster.

 

* * *

 

“So that’s all he was doin’? Starin’ at you evily?”

“I don’t know, he looked like I called him a biznatch or something offensive. Point is he didn’t look too happy with me.” Jimmy bit into his dry toast, a little disappointed this private school didn’t have elaborate breakfasts like he expected.

Marco slathered his own toast in nothing but butter. “I think you saw someone else. There’s no way he’s Tuco. Not by the way you described him.”

“Then who is he?”

“Tuco? I told you, he’s the psycho-“

“Leader yeah, he's the leader,” Jimmy said, “but I mean the guy who looked like he wanted to break my neck.”

“Probably Nacho then,” Marco ripped his bread in half. “He’s… Well. He’s not as scary as the rest of them. But like… He _sees_ shit y’know? He’s like Tuco’s right hand man or something. Like a second set of eyes.”

“So he’s a spy?”

“I guess you can put it that way. Whatever floats your boat. But don’t try and do something stupid when he’s around. A freshman I knew talked shit about Tuco in front of him, and the next day he didn’t show. Ended up in the ER with a busted ankle.”

Jimmy paled a little. “So no talking to him either-“

“Oh no, you can talk to him. He’s probably the only normal guy outta that whole gang. Just… Don’t get on his bad side you know? I know you’re smart Jim, I doubt you’d even say anything that would offend him. But just watch out ‘kay?”

“No problem,” Jimmy made a click sound with his teeth, pointing with his finger. “You won’t see me in any trouble. Jimmy’s smart enough to slip outta it.”

Marco grinned. “Slippin’ Jimmy. Now there’s a nickname for ya.”

 

* * *

 

It takes almost every inch of Jimmy’s willpower not to fall asleep in the middle of English class. He was just so bored with what the teacher was talking about... The topic they were on was classical literature. Something that would make any normal person fall asleep. At least in Jimmy’s eyes. He was trying to do good for his first day, but this couldn’t keep his attention. Then again, nothing ever kept his attention. It was just like school back home, except the difference was when he looked out the window he saw pastel blue skies and desert.

“James Mcgill, if I have to keep interrupting the class in order for you to stop looking out of the window and daydream, then you and I are going to have some serious problems.” The English teacher snapped with a shrill voice.

Jimmy’s head snapped away from the window, his face darkening from embarrassment. “Sorry ma’am.” He mumbled.

The teacher just sniffed disapprovingly. “You should know its disrespectful to ignore a teacher like that. I didn’t have any problems with your brother, and I expect the same from you. I don’t want the name McGill to be tainted by your careless actions. Now, if you all turn to page 239 in your textbooks-“

And just like that, Jimmy tuned out again, staring at his textbook with dead eyes. Just like school back home…

 

* * *

 

The next class wasn’t much better than the last.

Jimmy stood at the front of the room next to the teachers desk, awkwardly waiting to be told what to do. It seemed like ever since the rumor got out about him being Chuck’s little brother, people were watching him closely now. Even the teachers knew about it.

“Alright everyone, we are going to conduct our experiment today on liquefying chlorine gas. You all have you’re notes and the procedures we went over from yesterday, so get started.”

The teacher looked at Jimmy, before glancing around all the lab tables in the room.

“You’ll be sitting with Kim over there,” he pointed. “She doesn’t have her partner today. Probably because he ditched out to smoke weed or whatever it is. Pathetic junkie…”

Jimmy snickered to himself, hiding his smile behind his hand. Didn’t want the teacher to think he was a smart ass type of kid. Especially since Chuck would reprimand him for that. He casually shuffled over to the back table, taking a seat on the squeaky lab stool next to Kim.

“Hey. I’m Jimmy.”

“Hi.” Kim immediately went back to her notes. Obviously uninterested in talking. She barely even gave a side-glance to her new table mate.

“So, uh, chemistry huh?” Jimmy pulled a textbook close, trying to act studious. Or friendly. “Y’know, science isn’t really a strong suit of mine. Sorry I won’t be much of a help, but like, I can do the cool shit like lighting the fire thingy and doing the chemical thing. Maybe not like poisonous chemicals or whatever but I don’t think chemicals are poisonous-“

“Just put your safety goggles on and don't touch anything.”

 _Wow_. In only a short sentence, Kim effectively shut Jimmy up. She turned a page and got started on their experiment without him.

It was quiet for the rest of the period. Kim was occupied with the assignment they had and Jimmy was just watching her. He busied himself so he wouldn’t distract her or make her mad. He played around with his pencil, flipped book pages, folded a piece of paper into a little triangle…

“Okay. Done.”

“Huh?”

“The experiment. We’re done.” Kim closed the book, putting her elbow on it and looking to Jimmy. She sighed, “Sorry for taking over like that. It’s just easier since you haven’t been here for all of the lessons.”

“Oh. Yeah. Yeah, that makes total sense. Plus it doesn’t help you got paired up with the dumbest kid here.” Jimmy grinned, making light conversation.

“No, no you’re not the dumbest. I think. I’m pretty sure some other people in here would make you look like a Heisenberg.”

“The guy who invented ketchup?”

Kim smiled. It honestly caught Jimmy off guard. Here was this stoic-looking girl and she was smiling because of his stupid fucking joke. God. Internally he was “No, I’m talking about the theorist. But I guess I’ll give you credit for trying.”

“Well I’ll take it.”

 

* * *

 

After class, Jimmy couldn’t stop going on and on about how much of a dick his chemistry teacher was. Marco was listening to him, walking alongside as they both headed to their next class.

“For godsakes, he keeps equating students he hates to that one guy- what’s his name? Pinkman? He think’s anyone who’s slacking off will be like a druggie or something, I swear…”

“Don’t worry about it dude, chemistry is all bullshit anyways. All of those shapes and shit-“

“That’s geometry.”

“There’s shapes and shit in chemistry too! All of that glucose hydroperoxide aluminum bullshit.” Marco waved a hand. “Whatever. All I know is that I’m lucky I’m not gonna be a scientist.”

Jimmy laughed in agreement. He didn’t include the fact that he worked alongside the girl from the debate team, Kim Wexler. Or the fact she basically did all of the work since she knew what she was doing better than Jimmy did. Or the fact that she was funny and joked with him a lot and was really really cool to talk to. He didn't include that.

“Uh-oh,” Marco shifted his gaze to the left. “Don’t look now, but rich douchebag asshat headed your way at one o’clock.”

For a second Jimmy almost looked directly at the guy who was walking toward them, but managed to make it look like he was looking at something else. It was that Hamlin guy, wearing his letterman jacket and a bright white smile that was almost annoying to see up close.

“Hey, you’re Jimmy right? Jimmy McGill?” he asked.

“Yeah…” In Jimmy’s experience, someone asking you by your full name never really boded well.

“I’m Hamlin. Howard Hamlin.”

Jimmy nodded. Slowly. In another one of his many experiences, if someone used their last name first, they clearly had some sort of influence. Money or otherwise.

“Well uh, hey there. Howard.”

“So I heard through a couple of people that you just got here. I’m guessing you’re probably new to this whole private school thing,” Hamlin explained. “And I figured it’d only be kind of us to let you into our club.” He held out an envelope, devoid of anything except a seal in the middle. The same one that was sewn on the jackets of the Debate Team members. Jimmy gingerly took it, figuring that it might be just an elaborate prank.

“Our club is pretty involved in school affairs and helping out new kids, so we figured it’d be a good thing for you if you joined us. It’s not often we get transfer students here at Samoa.”

“Right,” Jimmy flipped the envelope over in his hands. “Is this a prank?”

Hamlin looked baffled. “A prank? No, no of course not. Why would we even prank you?”

Jimmy was about to laugh, but the baffled look on Hamlin’s face prevented him from doing so. It was like the guy was genuinely confused. “I-uh, hm. I don’t know. It was just a stupid thought y’know?”

“Oh. Well. We wouldn’t prank you, just so you know. Our club isn’t full of ruffians and troublemakers. We don’t really allow that kind of stuff in our club.”

“No delinquents. Right.” Jimmy halfheartedly agreed. It didn’t help that his record pretty much put him into the category Hamlin was talking about. The ruffians and the troublemakers.

“Like I said, it would be wonderful if you joined us. No pressure, of course. We just want your private school experience to be the best it can be.” Hamlin smiled. “We’re having a meeting this Sunday, right after lunch. So if you’re interested you should stop by, y’know?”

“Yeah, I-yeah. I’ll definitely uh, stop by. So…”

“Great! We’ll keep in touch Jimmy!” Hamlin went off, his walk making him look like a glad-handing CEO of some sorts. Confident and happy with himself.

“Holy _shit_ dude.” Marco grabbed Jimmy’s envelope, reading the front, “‘Samoa Academy Debate Club welcomes you Jimmy Mcgill’-Holy _shit_! I can’t believe it! You got invited in! You got invited into that bullshit!”

“Invited? Sounds like Chuck’s pulling the strings on this one,” Jimmy grabbed the envelope back, looking at it, “and I wouldn’t really be surprised if he’s doing this just to keep me outta trouble.”

“Trouble? What kinda trouble would you even get into?"

Jimmy paused. Unsure on how to approach the oh-so delicate subject.

“Nothin’. It’s an expression. Just an expression. I told you, I don’t get in trouble. Slippin’ Jimmy slips outta trouble, remember?”

“Oh. Right.” Marco said, dubious. He didn’t press or ask why he was so defensive, which Jimmy thanked his lucky stars for. “Whatever, it’s cool man. Hey. I’ve been meaning to ask, but you doin’ anything this weekend?”

“Uh, well, I got plans to go golfing with my business team, go to brunch with the secretary Sharlene,” Jimmy counted on his fingers,”and if you include the charity dinner that’ll raise money for entitalitis-“

“First of all, entitalitis isn’t a real thing. You just got that from a TV show,” Marco said, “And second off, we actually got something really cool lined up. But hey, if you don’t wanna go party then-“

“I’m joking, I’m only _jokin_ ’ Marco, c’mon!” Jimmy whined, hooking his arm around his friends shoulders. “Please, oh please, tell me about this wonderful party you got planned with all of the corner boys and the finest of babes.”

“ _Well_ , I’ve already rounded up a whole bunch of people to come down to this old warehouse on the other side of town. Now imagine, if you can, the best party you’ve ever had. The girls are gorgeous, the guys lookin’ fine as hell… Put a keg in the middle of all that and some drinks I got from my cousin and there’s the best party of the year right there.”

“For absolutely no reason?"

“Not for ‘no reason’, man. It’s the beginning of the year! Have a nice big party for all the returnin’ guys, celebrate the new year, see if any freshies come and get fucking wasted… Why the hell _not_ is the question.”

Jimmy was quiet for a moment, before asking, “Will there be apple martinis there?”

Marco shoved him away, both of them laughing. “Like there’d be a guy mixing drinks there! At a high school party!”

Jimmy laughed. “I mean, I’m disappointed by the lack of drink choices, but I guess I’ll go to your dumb party.”

“Good. You’ll enjoy it, I swear. Like a big huge welcome party! That’s what it’ll be. A true New Mexico welcome. The people there are gonna love you that’s for sure.” Marco gave a sort of salute as he headed down the hall to his class.

“I’ll be sure to bring my classic charm along. Give them the old razzle-dazzle.” Jimmy called back, shaking his hands. He was about to start walking when a guy roughly bumped into him, almost making him fall over.

“Hey! Watch it-“ Jimmy stopped mid-sentence. Unaware he was talking to the one guy he saw from this morning. Same glare, same intimidating way he held himself… Nacho didn’t say anything to Jimmy. He just walked past him without an apology.

The feeling Jimmy got from him wasn’t a very good one. He was good at picking out guys who were trouble, and this guy had it written all over him. He was the guy your mother wanted you not to play with on the playground. Just the sheer look he gave Jimmy when he passed by showed exactly what he was about.

Jimmy looked back again, hoping to catch another glimpse of Nacho, but he already went around the corner and disappeared. Like he wasn’t even there.


	3. Razzmatazz

The days between Wednesday and Saturday seemed to stretch on forever. For the short time Jimmy’s been in Samoa, it became very clear that time went slowly here. Every day was exactly the same as before. Nothing new or exciting ever happened. It made Jimmy feel like he was missing out on something. Then again, back at home he would always cause some sort of mayhem that made school interesting. His extensive track record proved that. 

Here it was different. Here, Jimmy was the average student that caused no trouble. No pranks, no rude comments, no stories in class about how he got high at a party last night. The only proof of that was what Chuck said about him. And to many people, it seemed that Jimmy wasn’t anything like the horrendous and stupidly insane person Chuck painted him to be. The risk of getting kicked out of school was at a surprising low for Jimmy. So when he accepted Marco’s offer to go party Saturday, he wasn’t too worried about Chuck giving him shit.

“So your brother is cool with you going out tonight?” Marco asked, taking another drink from the blue raspberry slushy they got together. The two of them were on the bleachers, siting in the hot sun as they watched the football team practice. “I’m only asking because I'm wondering how his leash on you can extend that long.”

Jimmy gave him a shove, swiping the slushy away for himself. "He doesn't have a leash on me. Besides, he doesn’t give a shit about what I do on weekends. It’s the school days that he’s uptight about.”  

“Business first then party later huh.” Marco rubbed his nose. “That’s what you get with someone like him I guess. Your brother is an uptight asshole, not gonna lie.” 

“I know.” Jimmy stirred the straw around, “But he’s my brother, so-“  

“Yeah yeah I get you. Blood thicker than water and all that brotherly stuff. But an uptight asshole is still an uptight asshole, theres no changing that. Brother or no.”  

“I know…”  

Jimmy stared out at the field for a little bit, watching the players run and practice plays. One of them stood out from them all. He was quick and threw spirals like a professional. It was only when they all stopped and huddled around the coach did Jimmy see his name.  

“Hamlin’s on the team?”  

Marco laughed bitterly, saying, “Surprised? Yeah, he plays alright. Along with great looks and a lot of money, its only fair if he was endowed with amazing athletic ability right?” He leaned forward as he stared harshly at Hamlin. “Quarterback with everything he could ever ask for… How’s that for a fucking surprise?”

Jimmy was quiet as he scooped out the last frozen bits of slushy. He could tell Marco really disliked Hamlin. Which was odd because Hamlin’s been nothing but nice, a little too nice, to Jimmy. If he ever saw him in the hall he would wave and smile with his bright white teeth, or even say things like “Hey Jimmy, I’ll see you Sunday!” or “Hey Jimmy, it’s a beautiful day out today!”  

So something must have happened between Marco and Hamlin. Why else would Marco hate him? There weren't many explanations for it.  

“So you’re really going to that debate meeting?” Marco asked, changing the subject.

Jimmy shrugged,“I mean I guess. Got invited so why not?” He chewed on his straw momentarily, almost talking to himself, “It’d be a good way for Chuck to be less suspicious of me or something. Like, if I’m in a club where people can see that I’m not a shitbag then he’ll lay off me you know?”

“I don’t know man. I mean, you’re already a huge shitbag anyways-“

“Ha ha. Funny.”

“But man, I don’t think getting into a club will like, up your ‘approval rating’ with your brother. From what I hear he really doesn’t care of you. You shouldn’t be wasting time trying to impress him you know? Just my two cents.” Marco stood up, stretching. “Well-ah. ’S time to go set up my circus. Francesca might be pissed if I’m not there to help out, ‘specially since I’m the one who wanted this to happen.” He walked down the bleachers, giving a wave to Jimmy before he went off. Presumably to go get cheap ass beer from the liquor mart.

Jimmy still sat on the bleachers, going back to watching the football practice again. His eyes always seeming to wander over to Hamlin, simply observing the way the popular boy moved across the field. He had an arrogant sort of attitude to himself when he played, like he was the best player on the field. Truthfully, he was.

It was still a little bit weird though. If Jimmy’s learned anything through school and his short time in juvie, no one could be that perfect. And if they were, than surely they were hiding something. The reckless delinquent in Jimmy wanted to find out what kind of dirty Hamlin had, but the saner part figured it wasn’t a big deal. Besides, why should Jimmy go digging up secrets and shit like that? Didn’t he come here for a fresh start?

 _Yeah. I did. And there’s no way I’m going to fuck it up with some stupid shit with high school cliques._ Jimmy stood up, walking down the stairs and back to the dorms so he could focus on something else.   There was a good reason why Jimmy simply listened whenever Marco went on his rants about whatever problems were happening with the school cliques. Back at home, he was the first guy to know about anything that happened, no matter how small or petty. People would come to him to get news and whatever rumors were circling around. But being the centre for gossip was a huge contribution to his downfall, eventually causing him to move halfway across the country to be watched over by his older brother.

So maybe it was time for change. Maybe Jimmy should just be a good guy instead. Maybe it was time to do what Chuck said, do good work instead of doing what he did back in Cicero…

Jimmy quickly came back to reality when he heard a bunch of shouts and yells in the middle of the school courtyard. Three of those gangster-looking guys were hovering over a small kid with dark brown hair. He was cowering, holding up a textbook as if it would be a suitable barrier between him and the jeering boys.

“What, can’t follow some rules dipshit?” One of the guys said, ripping the book away. He looked at it, before tossing it off to the side, laughing at the yelp the kid gave. Jimmy blood started to boil. _What the fuck is his problem?_

“You really should’ve spent less time reading and more time working on the shit that we told you to do.”

“I-I was going to but I-“

“What? Too busy jerking off your boyfriend or something? Figures. See, its fags like you that make me _sick_ -“

“Hey! Why don’t you just lay the fuck off?” Jimmy snapped. He started marching up to the gangsters.  They looked, mildly surprised at the interruption. It was only when Jimmy came up close did he notice who was among their ranks. None other than the guy who bumped him in the hall earlier this week; Nacho.

The boy that was threw the book away snarled, “Guessing that you’re the boyfriend huh? Or should I say girlfriend? Couldn’t find your hair tie there Barbie?”

“Was that supposed to be a burn on my mullet? Coming from a guy who looks like he’s on his fifth round of chemo?”  

“Oh, you crossed some fucking _lines, buddy-_ “  

“No-Doze.” Nacho called out. “Hang back.”  

No-Doze gave a last look to Jimmy before backing up, standing behind Nacho with the rest of the group.   

Nacho strutted up close, Jimmy instinctually standing in front of the kid on the ground. A few people started taking notice, gathering around the two in a semi-circle.   _Great. Just what I need. A bunch of people see me get my asshole ripped in half…_

"Fuck 'im up Nacho!!" One of the guys screamed. "Kick the new guys ass!! Murder ‘im!! Slay!!”  A steady chant of 'fight fight fight' bubbled from the crowd surrounding Jimmy and Nacho, ready to see them throw down. It was Jimmy’s worst nightmare. Not only was he about to get his ass kicked, but in front of a large crowd to boot.

Nacho stood taut, eyebrows narrowed like he was looking down on Jimmy. Despite his short height he held his gaze, eyes burning with the ferocity of the sun. This is it. This was going to kill Jimmy in the middle of Samoas courtyard just because he couldn’t keep his big mouth shut. A short gangster teen with no sleeves and a gold chain was going to murder him. _Fucking delightful._

“Alright-I- okay, theres no need to fight right?" He said, figuring if his big mouth was what got him in trouble, than maybe it could get him out.    "We’re both pretty sensible people, there seems to be a misunderstanding here, obviously, and I’m not trying to cause any sorta trouble so-“  

"If you're not looking for trouble than why'd you even bother interfering?" Nacho asked, albeit politely for someone so threatening.   

"Well- It's- wasn't really fair, y'know? Three guys against one? The guys at a total disadvantage. Why bother with him you know? "  

Nacho didn't say anything, but his eyes seemed to show what he was thinking. Or so Jimmy thought. "So it's an honor thing huh."  

“I guess, if you put it that way.” Jimmy nervously laughed, “Unless he stole something of yours in which case there's no honor among thieves. Learned that lesson from straight juvie."

 Again, Nacho didn’t say anything.

“Just- please. If you let me, if you let us-“ Jimmy motioned to the kid behind him, “-go then we’ll forget this happened. _I’ll_ forget this happened. And I’ve got a terrible case of face blindness, so…”

 It seemed that Jimmy’s words convinced Nacho, because the intensity in his eyes mellowed out, shoulders lowering slightly. Jimmy inwardly sighed in relief.  

He flinched hard when Nacho came closer, almost putting his hands up. “I know how to find you Mcgill. Wherever and whenever. You understand, right.” 

It wasn't even a question, the way he asked it. But Jimmy nodded anyways.   

“Let’s go guys.”

After Nacho and his friends left, people stared at Jimmy in shock as if they had witnessed a plane crash. 

"Holy _shit_ -“

“Why the fuck didn’t he get punched?”

“He just talked _bullshit_.”

 Jimmy started to feel the weight of peoples eyes on him, judging him. Apparently getting into a scrap with Nacho or his gang friends meant certain death at Samoa. And Jimmy escaping that certain death got him a shiny target on his forehead. He realized that now.

So Jimmy did the most logical thing he could think of in that moment.

He ran away, tripping over his own two feet and ignoring the looks and calls he got from the crowd. It was only when he got to the bathroom did Jimmy truly start freaking out. 

“Shit, shit, _shit_ -“ He cursed over and over again, walking around in rapid circles until he stopped in front of the sink, seeing his reflection gaze back at him with wide blue eyes, hair astray and sweat running down his face-

Jimmy threw up right in the sink. 

He breathed heavily, hands gripping sink basin like it was a lifeline. Now he understood why Nacho and the rest of the gang members weren't to be messed with. The whole experience made Jimmy’s heart race, almost fast enough to be qualified as a heart attack. Or was it a panic attack? Was he having a panic attack? Fuck if he knew.  

He sank to his knees, still so shaken up even after he steadied his breathing. Jimmy desperately wished he was back in his own room, his real room with all of his movie posters and his bookcase full of cassette tapes. Small tears pricked his eyes when he started thinking about home, where he was safe and sound. At least he was less likely to get threatened by assholes like Nacho.    He sat down on the tile, arms folded on his knees. Hopefully no one would come in and see him like this. _Slippin’ Jimmy, more like Having-An-Anxiety-Attack-And-Looking-Like-A-Pussy Jimmy_.

He sighed, heavily, putting his head down between his knees.

 Jimmy _really_ wished he was back home.  

 

* * *

 

Word spread fast about Jimmy’s supposed brush with death. Very fast. No one had ever gotten off scot free by Nacho. Not like how Jimmy did. He barely walked back into the boys dorm when a swarm of guys surrounded him, clapping his back and ruffling his hair in praise. The kid who he defended earlier came up to him eagerly, thanking him.

“It’s no problem, really,” Jimmy assured. “And I’m sorry I ran off afterwards, I thought he’d be back to flay me right in front of you. Didn’t want people to see that kinda thing.”

“I didn’t think I’d be able to get away if you hadn’t helped me out,” he smiled, his dark brown curls bouncing in glee. “I mean, I could’ve done it myself but-“ 

“Still cocky even after this guy saved you Max?” A boy with glasses asked, jokingly. “I thought you were supposed to be thanking him-“ 

“I was! I’m only joking, Gus. Jimmy’s cool, he knows I’m just playing. We’re like friends y’know?” Max patted Jimmy’s shoulder.  

“Yeah, like bros.” Jimmy said, smiling. “I got your back, I promise.”

Max thanked him again, going off to go tell others about what Jimmy did for him. His friend Gus stayed back to talk. 

“Listen,” Gus told Jimmy, “I owe you one. For helping him out.” 

“Oh, uh, you don’t have to. Really, it’s fine.” 

Gus laughed, “I like that. It’s modest. But, still. It’s good to have people on your side. Careful people. _Especially_ in a place like this.” He shrugged. “But really. Thank you for helping him out. It helps in the long run, trust me.”

“No problem.” Jimmy watched Gus walk away, closely following Max. It was funny how close they were, nothing like Jimmy’s ever seen anyways… Funnier that Gus said helping them out would do wonders in the long run. What was that supposed to mean?

He walked back to his own room, giving fist bumps to the excited guys who heard about his flight with death. Of course, they didn’t see him freak out in the bathroom after. That was probably for the better. 

Jimmy flopped onto his bed, face first, before rolling onto his back and looking up at the ceiling. Whatever happened to that talk he had with himself, about not causing trouble? Granted, he only got in trouble because he helped someone. But now he was going to be watched by Nacho and his gang like a piece of meat. Both them and Chuck would have their eyes on him. Which meant he would really have to watch his step. 

 _Whatever_. He could figure something out to maneuver around whoever he's pissed off. He was smart enough. Maybe not like his brother, but he could get by, right?

_I'm Slippin' Jimmy. Of course I can figure this out._

 

* * *

 

For once in his life, Jimmy couldn't figure out what to wear. He wished he had at least a decent suit and tie to wear to the party. Every piece of clothing he had was spread out on his bed, making him agonize over what the hell to wear. Even though Marco didn’t say anything about a dress code, it would have been the perfect excuse to get a little snazzy. Jimmy loved dressing up for shit, looking like some high executive CEO or a really rich lawyer. Both made so much money that they could buy a new suit every day for the whole year.  

But Jimmy didn't have any money. Or a suit. All he had was whatever he packed in his duffel bag and the basic uniform he got from the school. So he opted for his school slacks and white button up, adding a dark red sweater just for a casual look. There. _Good enough for a party, right?_ Jimmy thought, looking down at himself. _Yeah. Good enough._

He carefully snuck out of the boys dorm, slipping through the school courtyard and making sure to blend into the shadows, not making any sudden movements. The only reason why he was on high alert was because of Chuck. Although Jimmy doubted that he would be awake at this time of night, he didn’t want to risk explaining to his brother why he was sneaking out.  

After passing through the front gates Jimmy started the walk toward town, letting the yellowing moon light his path. The cool night air was breezy enough to send a shiver through him, making him zip up his jacket. It wasn’t hard to find the warehouse on the edge of town. The rainbow of lights softly glowing from every window made it easy to spot. As Jimmy went toward the large building he could hear the swell of music and voices pour out from it, but it was only when he opened the doors did he truly understand how outrageous this party was.

Jimmy barely walked into the warehouse when he was blinded by bright colorful lights. And god, people were everywhere. Literally everywhere. From the entrance to all the way back of the warehouse, dancing or hanging around by the many speakers set up around the place. Some had climbed the rickety scaffolding ladders and we're hanging out up there, laughing and drinking. Jimmy looked around, eyes sparkling from excitement. It’s been forever since he’s been to a party, and this felt like an oasis in the desert. Quite literally.    

It took under a couple of seconds to spot Marco in the crowd, wearing what looked like a paper crown and a shower curtain around his neck like a royal cape. He was joking and laughing with everyone like a rich host throwing a party at his mansion despite his appearance. Marcos eyes lit up when he saw Jimmy and he sauntered over to greet him.  

"Great party isn't it?" Marco shouted, slinging an arm around his friend. He already looked drunk, the smell of cheep beer wafting from him. "Super sweet you can make it man! I've been- _hic_ \- people’ve been tellin’ me all about you with the whole Nacho fight! It’s crazy what you did, you noble bastard! Hey! Everyone! It’s the guy who got outta a fight with Nacho! It's Slippin' Jimmy!!"

A loud cheer burst from the crowd, people raising their bottles up in a toast to the new student they heard so much about. In a short matter of time, Jimmy had become a huge star just because he slipped out of a deserved beating from Nacho. And if talking someone down meant becoming a popular entity, then Jimmy should do it more often.   

"People here- I got the whole crew to set this up!” Marco yelled over the noise, his paper crown tipping to the side. He adjusted it, waving his hand all over the place. “Speakers, booze from Kuby’s cousin… Fuck, we even got a _light system_! You ever seen a _fucking light system_ like this Jimmy?”   

“You mean the shitty disco ball?” Jimmy asked, taking Marcos beer for himself. No way would he let his friend be drunk without him. "I see it, looks like its only being held by a string. Y'know those strings that hold together newspapers?"

"Oh picky picky picky Jimmy. You want some cheese to go with that wine? No- you know what, _doesn't matter_. This is the time to fucking bathe in the limelight, appreciate your newfound reputation man! Let's celebrate it, celebrate the year of Slippin' Jimmy!"

Marco showed him around, pointing out all of his friends that helped him put this together. Huell and Kuby over by the keg stand, arguing about why a money pile wouldn't make a good bed to sleep on. Francesca sitting on a pile of stacked wood boards, twirling her hair and talking to the other girls by her. One of the girls happened to be-  

“Kim!!”  

She turned at her name, spotting Jimmy a short ways away. Kim said something to Francesca before coming over, smiling. “Hey! Heard about you from all the gossip, I still can’t believe it-“  

“ _Believe in it,_ girl,” Marco put an arm around her, squishing the three of them together. “This slippery ass motherfucker looked death in the face and escaped with his limbs intact. Thats like walkin' into the lions den and punching the lion in the face."

"Sounds daring. And a little bit cruel to animals."  

Jimmy laughed, feeling at ease with his friends. Nothing from before seemed to matter so much now. Here, he was okay. Here he was fine.

The night passed by in a quick blur; Jimmy going from playing on a makeshift pool table with Kim to battling the schools swim team with a round of beer pong. Every thirty minutes Marco would blast an airhorn, signaling that everyone should stop what they're doing and take a drink of something, anything. People would randomly come up to Jimmy, at times, and shake hands with him or just rehash what happened with him and Nacho. Everyone started to pick up Marcos nickname for him, and by the time Jimmy started his second round of drinks, people knew him as Slippin' Jimmy.

 At one point Jimmy flopped down on one of the ratty couches, happily sighing. He was floating on the high of the dancing and all of the drinks he’s had… _Its such a good feeling,_ he thought. Ever since arriving here Jimmy’s felt nothing but pressure to fit in and not be remembered as ‘Chuck McGills little brother’. But now it didn’t define him. ‘Slippin’ Jimmy was more like him now, and this party set that in stone.

He was thinking so much about his new identity he barely noticed the person who sat next to him until he looked. It was Nacho, sitting too close for comfort and staring at him with eyes like a cobra. Jimmy stiffened, eyes looking down automatically.  _Of course._ It would only be fitting to get his ass kicked now when he was feeling on top of the world. That was how the universe worked, always going to fuck your ass sideways when you least expected it.  

How did Nacho even get in here? Didn’t anybody even notice him? Judging by the people around them no one seemed to care about it. Yet surprisingly, Nacho didn’t pounce on him like he had expected. He just kept staring at Jimmy with his lifeless black eyes, picking him apart just like when they were out in the courtyard. Like he was about to fight him.  

“If you’re going to kick my ass than just do it, okay?” Jimmy said, voice going up in pitch. _Well if thats not embarrassing…_  

Nacho shrugged. “There’s no need to.”  

“N-no need to-?” Jimmy gawked. “I’m sorry, but did s-someone happen to beat you because you’re talking like a person with head trauma-”  

“You think you’re funny now?” Nacho asked, softly. His voice cut through the loudness that surrounded them, which just terrified Jimmy. He could already see himself ending up in the infirmary at this rate.  

“S-sorry. No. I wasn’t. I was just-“ Jimmy thickly swallowed, “S-so you’re not… mad?”  

“At what?”  

“Well, I thought with the whole, uh, ‘almost fight thing’ we had… Thought you’d be mad. With that. You know… ” Jimmy made some weird movements with his hands. Something he only did when he was really nervous.   

Nacho gave another shrug. “I’m not mad.”  

“Oh.” Jimmy stalled. Clearly something was up if Nacho was willing to forget their scrabble. What other reason did he have to come and talk to Jimmy as if they were friends?  

“I respect someone who has the balls to stand up like that and say something for their friend. Takes nerve.”  

“Well, I mean, he wasn’t really a friend per se-“  

“So you don’t even know him?” Nacho asked, intensly. “You don’t know anything about him, you just happened to help him out of pure coincidence?”  

“Could be argued that all of life is one big coincidence.” It was Jimmy’s turn to shrug. 

Nacho thought for a second. "So you being there was just a 'coincidence'. Makes me think about what you said. Out there in the courtyard. You said that you’ve been to juvie. How’d you end up there? Another huge coincidence?”  

“Uh,” _Why the fuck does he want to know?_ “Just- I don’t… Why are you asking me?”  

“I figure that you owe me for not beating the living shit out of you in front of the entire school.”  

“Oh,” Jimmy dryly said. He almost flinched when Nacho leaned in close.

“I want you to help me out with this thing that I’ve been working on. Smart guy like you can be useful. See, I like ripping off people like you because they have no recourse. You got in the slammer once, so the authorities won’t be so forgiving. Same with these other people I have an eye on, except they haven’t been in jail like you.”   

“‘Jail’ seems like a harsh term for juvie…” Jimmy muttered, holding up his hands when Nacho squinted his eyes. “Or not. W-whatever you want to use…”  

“Look, you’re lucky it wasn’t Tuco that you crossed instead of me. You think you’d be sitting here now if I hadn’t let you off?”  

“A-and I appreciate that-“  

“So you _do_ owe me.”   

“No-I…okay okay. I owe you.” Jimmy gave in. “I owe you, but that doesn’t mean I get to help you out with whatever crazy shit you have going on, trying to mess with people. You were right, I have nothing to fall back on. I’d be shit out of luck if I got in trouble just because of something you made me do..”   

Nacho smiled, but quickly frowned from seeing Jimmy’s reaction. “You are shitting me.”  

“Like I said I crossed the line- No, I made a mistake. I’m not doing that kind of stuff again, ever. A-And I’m not saying anything about this to, uh, anybody. About your whole uh, ripping people off or something...”   

“You rat, you die.”  

Jimmy paled. “And- that. There’s that too…”    

The gangster kid stood up, extending his hand. “Give me your phone.”

 Jimmy quickly fished it out of his pocket, handing it over with little resistance for fear that Nacho would hurt him if he didn’t.

Nacho took it, typing in something before he flashed Jimmy the screen, showing a phone number. He tapped his head, saying, “For when you figure out you’re in the game,” and tossed Jimmy’s phone back to him.  

“I-I’m not in the game, I promise-“ Jimmy stopped talking when Nacho left, shoulders slumping.   

This was messed up, on so many levels. What was Jimmy supposed to do now? Again, he wondered where the fuck did his whole ethics go? What happened to him not getting involved with the wrong kinds people? 

_Figures. I'm a fucking magnet for this shit. No wonder why Chuck moved out to New Mexico, he won't be in my 'shitstorm range' all the way out here. Now we're both fucked. I'm **fucked**._

Jimmy didn't notice he got up and went over to where all the liquor was, simply filling his cup to the brim with that cucumber-flavored vodka from the punch bowl. Why worry when he could just have fun? Just like he would do back in Cicero, opting to have fun instead of dwell on the negative. Why do that here? Why not just forget? Even if he had to drain every last drop of alcohol in this damn warehouse, Jimmy wasn't going to think about anything other than having a grand time. 

He swallowed his drink in one go, finally starting to feel that haze creep into the back of his skull. Jimmy slowly grinned. Now _that's_ more like it.   

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> jimmy suffering from anxiety is v important to me. plus I'm sorry this is so late, i was going to make it a huge chapter but i split it instead. so yeah


	4. You Talk Way Too Much

The next morning, Jimmy woke up on the hard concrete floor. The first feeling that came to him was total confusion, followed by the nausea of a hangover. Everything looked blurry for a second until Jimmy blinked a couple of times, letting his eyes adjust to the sunlight filtering through the windows. It must have been the middle of the day judging by how bright and hot everything was.   
   
Jimmy groaned a little as he lifted himself up off the floor, looking around at the devastation from last night. It was like a minor tornado went through the warehouse, leaving nothing but red solo cups and confetti in its wake. Jimmy sighed, rubbing his face in the hopes that he would wake up a little bit more. This hangover was hitting him harder than he thought... Which was odd because he only had a few drinks. Or was it more? Jimmy couldn't really recall. It was all a blur after he had that talk with Nacho.

Nacho. _Shit._ He completely forgot about that whole ordeal with him. And how he gave Jimmy his phone number and pretty much offered to team up to cause trouble and _fuck_. Didn’t Jimmy swear off of this bullshit? This whole who’s-on-who’s-side and whatever? What the fuck happened to staying on the right side?

A small tap on his shoulder stirred Jimmy out of his thoughts. It was Kim, holding out a red plastic cup to him. Like she knew he'd wake up delirious and hungover, an absolute mess.   
   
"Thanks." Jimmy rasped out, his voice sounding grateful. He'd ask later why Kim stuck around, but for now he took the cup from her and drank. It was water, lukewarm, and faintly tasting like metal and alcohol.   
   
"Not beer?" He joked.   
   
"It's just melted ice from the cooler." Kim shrugged, looking apologetic. "There wasn’t much besides warm tequila and the stuff from the keg."  
   
“That figures. What kind of party would have bottles of water laying around? None, I’m guessing.” Jimmy smiled, taking another sip. The water helped clear his throat, sore from screaming and sleeping with his mouth open all night.  He looked around again as he drank, finally spotting some familiar faces. Kuby and Francesca were slumped over on each other, fast asleep. Hell wasn’t far away, knocked out with his hand halfway in a chip bag. And Marco- good fucking god- still wore that stupid cardboard crown even as he slept on those hard wooden planks.  
   
“So I'm guessing the party was a huge rousing success," Jimmy noted. “'Specially since I can't even remember a goddamn thing."  
   
"Seems like everyone here is in the same boat as you."  
   
"How come you aren't in this figuratively speaking boat? I thought that with all the drinks around you'd have gotten wasted with us."  
   
"I guess someone's gotta be the figuratively designated driver. Or at least wake you up so you don't spend your entire Saturday on a warehouse floor." Kim sat down, cross-legged. “You started doing some really funny shit as you got drunker. All thanks to that punch bowl concoction you kept drinkin’.”  
   
Jimmy smiled, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes.  
   
“I think you tried crowed surfing with Marco, but he just kinda held you up instead. Then you started hitting on Francesca, she almost fought your drunk ass, and then you just kind of wandered around for a little bit asking where Chuck was before you laid down on the floor.”  
   
“Chuck was here?”  
   
“No, but it was pretty funny watching you walk around wondering where he was. Like a drunkard,” Kim smiled. “You would go up to groups and try to get people to tell you where Chuck was. I think you even got Marco to join in.”  
   
Jimmy scoffed, “‘S a good thing he _wasn’t_ here though. I’d have gotten my ass dragged like the last time…”  
   
“So this _isn’t_ your first time. I would’ve thought by the looks of you that you’ve never even been to a real party.”  
   
“Think again, Wexler. Slippin’ Jimmy here, is a well-seasoned party goer. The finest one East of the Mississippi, in fact. All the corner boys would high five me and the finest babes would just hope that I would-“  
   
“Hopefully ignore them?”  
   
“Close, they’d hope I’d smile back at them.” Jimmy joked, draining the last of the water from his cup. He crushed it with one hand, tossing it off to the side. “I’m still thirsty. And starving. But mostly thirsty.”  
   
“There’s Loyala’s dinner a couple blocks away. We could go get something there, then come back and help clean up.” Kim extended her hand, helping Jimmy up onto his feet. He stumbled a little bit before steadying himself.  
   
“Sure. I could go for some breakfast.”  
   
“It’s probably lunchtime by now.”  
   
“Alright alright, so it’s brunch then.” Jimmy waved his hand, grinning. “So, waffles?”  
   
“Sure. Waffles.”

 

* * *

 

Sunday morning was difficult for Jimmy to get up. After he and Kim returned back to the warehouse, it took most of the day to help clean out the place. Kuby, Huell, and Francesca helped out with the clean up process, going around and taking down streamers and tossing away whatever trash that was left over. Marco wasn’t much of a help, still wearing that ridiculous paper crown and drinking whatever was leftover in the random beer bottles.  
   
“Ugh, gross. You know people might’ve pissed in that.” Francesca curled her nose, tossing a few cups in the black trash bag she had. “Like, what if someone has herpes? You’re putting your lips all over that.”  
   
“I don’t get it either.” Jimmy said, picking up a handful of confetti. “What sensible person would drink warm, flat beer thats been sitting out in the sun for hours?”  
   
“Well you said sensible, and we all know I’m far from that… Soooooo…” Marco took another slug from a bottle, burping and throwing it into his own trash bag. “‘Sensible’ is not one of my stellar qualities.”  
   
Jimmy laughed. They kept at it until the sun went down, dumping their stuff before heading back to the school dorms. Kim and Francesca went off to the girls while the rest of the guys went to the boys. A few students high fived Marco, saying how great his party was, while others clapped Jimmy on the back in praise. He was pretty well known now around the school, popular even, which made him beam on the inside.  
   
But now he was tired. His head was under his pillow, blocking out the dorm room noises and the annoying hum of the water heater. Jimmy planned on staying like that for the whole day. No partying, no cleaning, no moving. Just sleep until he was tired from sleeping, and then going back to sleep once more.  
   
His plan was ruined when Marco came in and told him to get up, pulling at his covers. Jimmy feebly tried to swat him away, complaining loudly.  
   
“Marco, god- _stop_. Fuck off Marco I’m not going to-“  
   
“Drag your ass out of bed and get dressed? Fuck- can’t believe you’re still drunk- You’re so gonna be late for your fucking meet up with Richboy Douchebag, man!”  
   
“What?”  
   
Marco successfully yanked the sheets off, exposing a boxer-wearing Jimmy with the rattiest of bedhead. “Hamlin! You forgot about the goddamn debate meeting!”  
   
Jimmy’s eyes went wide. He shot out of bed, racing around and trying to gather up his clothes. “Fuck, _fuck_ \- Why the hell didn’t you get me up earlier?”  
   
“Oh, I’m so sorry Sleeping Beauty, was I supposed to kiss you on the mouth and see if you wake up?” Marco said, shoving Jimmy's shoes in his hands. “Am I your personal alarm clock now? Is that it?”  
   
“Fuck off Marco, if you were already awake you could’ve told me! You know how important this is to me!” Jimmy yelled, tugging on a shirt and slipping his shoes on. He made a weak attempt at trying to smooth down his hair, even though it wouldn't make a damn difference.  
   
“Look, I’m not the one that drank myself into _next Tuesday_ bro,” Marco pushed Jimmy out of the door, “So get the fuck moving!”   
   
Jimmy hauled ass out of the dorm, running across the school campus to where the debate members held their meetings. A while ago (with some funding by a veritable wealthy family) the academy had built another school wing that included more classrooms intended for ‘humanity based learning’. Which sounded like a bunch of bullshit once you realized that their son was Howard Hamlin, and that he had complained how there wasn’t a proper meeting place for the debate team.

Five hundred thousand dollars later and a go-ahead by the school principal, a brand new part of the school was erected, with bright red bricks and hallways covered in fresh paint that wasn’t chipping.

Jimmy raced through one of those same hallways, wheezing hard by the time he reached the door to the meeting room. He opened it and stood off to the side, taking a second to catch his breath. The place was reasonably full, students milling about and talking. Completely unaware of the sweaty kid by the door, looking like he was suffering from an asthma attack. Jimmy was actually thankful that no one cared about his presence. It gave him a chance to look presentable.

 “Jimmy!”

 _Ah shit._ It’s Hamlin.

Jimmy put on a good natured smile for the vice president, watching him approach. Hamlin looked impeccably dressed, like he was going to attend a dinner with the queen of England instead of a high school debate meeting.

“I’m really glad you could make it!"

"Yeah, of course. Wouldn't miss it for the world." He smiled. Hamlin was just beaming at him, like it really _did_ mean the world to him that Jimmy was here. "So, debate club? Looks more like a wedding reception than anything."

"Yeah, it does doesn't it? Unfortunately we don't have any hors d'oeuvres," Hamlin laughed

Jimmy laughed along, trying not to show that he had no goddamn clue what a whores divorce was. Probably something rich people do, or a type of fancy cheese. Whatever the hell...

"But I'm really glad you're here Jimmy. I actually need some help, if thats all right with you. Chuck said that you were willing to be one of our club helpers, right?"

Of course, Jimmy thought. Chuck was definitely pulling the strings on this whole thing. Have Jimmy join the club so he could watch him and put him to work, apparently. "Uh, yeah. I'm willing to be a, uh, helper guy. Is that like the first level for club members or what?"

Hamlin gave what looked like a sympathetic smile to Jimmy, saying, “Not exactly. It's not really part of the club at all. I mean, Chuck would love to have you on the team right away, but we can’t just give special treatment to family members you know? Its against the rules. And it wouldn’t really give a good shot for other people that actually tried out to be on the team. But I want you to take it from me, that I would absolutely one hundred percent let you join right away if I could.”  
   
Jimmy nodded, unconvinced, “Yeah. Right. Okay. So, whats this club helper thing about?”   
   
“It's really easy actually. You’ll help us out with setting things up, getting things ready for the opposing teams and our own team, delivering mail to club members…” Hamlin explained. Jimmy tried not to compare it to being a servant, trying to see a positive part with this whole thing.  
   
“Of course, you won’t be working alone with all this. Kim helps out a lot too, so you’ll be working with her.” He waved Kim over. She looked like when Jimmy first saw her, stoic and off-putting. Her eyes seemed to widen when she realized that it was Jimmy standing next to Hamlin.

“Jimmy, this is-“  
   
“Kim, yeah, I know her. We have Chem together during fourth.”   
   
Hamlin stopped, looking a little bit miffed that Jimmy interrupted him. But he put on his fake smile again, saying, “Great! Glad I don’t have to bother with intros, now we can just get down to business.”   
   
“I need you guys to help with setting up our first meeting of the year, getting it ready, presentable… I’ve already got a preorder on some blue indigo flowers to really make this place nice, so maybe one of you can go get those while the other stays and sets up the chairs.”  
   
“Walk from town is a long way for preordered blue indigo flowers,” Jimmy rubbed the back of his neck, trying not to laugh at the whole grandiose flower arrangements. Blue indigo? _Seriously?_  
   
“Got a bike. Could ride that to town and get the flowers.” Kim suggested.  
   
“That’s perfect! Wow, you two work so well together already,” Hamlin gave a perfect white toothed smile, before walking away. “I have to go talk to our new members, educate them on how the club works and our times… All of that stuff you know? And I expect you’ll get the flowers back before our official meeting starts.”  
   
Jimmy lowly scoffed. He looked over to Kim to see if she had the same disbelief about Hamlin that he had, but she only had a bored expression on her face. Clearly she’s been through this kind of thing before.   
Kim motioned to the door with her head, “C’mon. Let’s go.”  
   
Jimmy walked with her to the back of the school, where all of the janitors and groundskeepers kept their stuff. They went around a few corners, Kim looking side to side before lifting up one of the metal garage doors. Some junk and debris tumbled out, making Jimmy hop off to the side to avoid the mess.  
   
"Janitor let me keep this here since I gave him a case of beer.” She said as she pulled a bike out of the locker. It looked worn, but still rideable. The handlebar pads were falling off and the yellow paint was chipping. ”He’s cool with it so long as I don't ruin any of the shit that's in here."  
   
"Isn't that a little too late now?" Jimmy mumbled, looking down at all of the junk that tumbled out. Kim just rolled her eyes and started tossing the stuff back inside haphazardly.   
   
“It’s a cool bike though."  
   
Kim shrugged. "It's a decent ride. You should watch the breaks though. They don't really work and the handle sticks.” She tossed the last bit of junk inside, before pulling down the garage door. “But I think you’ll be fine with it. It’s only a short ride to the shop.”  
   
"You ain't comin' with me?"  
   
"I gotta go help out Hamlin, remember? You’re our new delivery boy. Or are you scared to go on a little errand to town?" Kim joked. “Afraid someones going to try and stab you? I promise that no ones gonna mug you on your way. Plenty of kids go there and they’re just fine.”  
   
“Yeah, that’s convincing. If I end up in the hospital with a busted ankle then I’m pressing charges on you for giving me false information.” Jimmy got on the bike, pushing the pedals until he was in motion. He wobbled a bit before ridding off, turning his head and shouting, “I’ll sue you for that! Sue you!”  
   
The ride to town was relatively smooth for Jimmy. It was the hottest part of the day, the sun high in the sky and the asphalt radiating low lazy waves of heat. Jimmy could feel it rise up and surround him, like a thick hot blanket. He was starting to sweat through his uniform just as he arrived at the edge of town.  
   
The town next to Samoa Academy was typical for the middle of nowhere. Nothing but slightly run down, boarded up storefronts, cracked sidewalks, and streets that haven't been paved for quite some time. There was an almost apocalyptic quality to it, Jimmy noted. Or maybe because it was such a contrast from the wet, green environment that Cicero was.   
   
Jimmy was so busy looking around for the flower shop that he didn't even notice a lanky teen on a skateboard run out right in front of him. He barely had time to step on the brakes when he crashed right into the kid, toppling over the handlebars and landing hard on to asphalt. “Fuck.” Jimmy cursed, peeling himself up. His right arm was scrapped, small dots of blood starting to pepper his skin. The same went for his knees, blackened from the dirt on the ground.  
   
He was about to turn around and give whoever crashed into him a piece of his mind when he heard a bloodcurdling scream. Another teen ran to them, holding a skateboard and video camera in hand.   
   
“Oh my god-Cal!! Holy sh- What did you do!!” He screamed, looking from Jimmy to the guy on the ground.  
   
“I-I didn’t even-“ Jimmy stuttered. “I didn’t know-!“  
   
“You hit him!! You hit my brother!! Oh my god-!! Cal!”   
   
“H-He came outta nowhere! I was just making a turn and-!”  
   
“You frickin’ _hit him man!_ ” A loud cough came from the teen on the ground. His brother kneeled down and grabbed the back of his neck to support him, crying out, “Cal! Oh my god- _Cal!_ Are you with me?!”   
   
The teen that was Cal coughed a little, before feebly answering, “I-I t-think I’m okay, Lars, I just-“ he tried to stand up before he shrieked, clutching his leg tighter.  
   
“Th-That’s a broken leg! You goin’ around hitting people and breaking their legs! Help! Someone call the cops!” Lars yelled, only getting a few glances from passerby before they just went along with their own business. They barely gave any notice to the whole fiasco. “F-fine I’ll call them myself then! I’ll call the police-!”  
   
“Don’t call the police, don’t call the police!” Jimmy started yelling too, desperation in his voice when Lars pulled out his cellphone. _No no. This is the last thing I need._ “Don’t call ‘em, don’t call them-“  
   
“Don’t call the police?” Lars suspiciously asked. “How’re you gonna fix this? What’re you gonna do to make this right?” He emphasized with his phone held up, thumb hovering over the green call button.  
   
And Jimmy faltered. Visibly. This wasn’t something he could lie his way out of. Not when some poor dude got his leg broken by him. How would he explain that to Chuck? Especially if Lars decided to call the cops on him anyways? What would he do then?

“I don’t know guys…” Jimmy answered, honesty in his voice. “What can I do to make it right?”  
   
Lars looked down at his brother, tilting his head a little. Cal made a heavy sigh, shaking his head. “I don’t know…” He said, before quickly adding, “Fifty dollars.”  
   
Jimmy wheezed. “Fifty dollars?”  
   
The two brothers nodded, the look of greed in their eyes. And then it suddenly clicked. The sudden crash with no warning, the huge overreaction, the passerby that looked like they’ve seen this all before… Jimmy looked down at Cal with sappy sympathy, before harshly kicking at his ‘injured’ leg.  
   
“Ow, _ow!_ ” Cal scrambled up onto his feet quickly. “What the hell man?!”  
   
“Listen _Starlight Express_ I’m gonna give you a nine point six for technique, _zero point zero_ for choice of _victim_. I already knew you two were gonna con me right from the start! And furthermore,” Jimmy pointed angrily at his bike. “Does this piece of shit scream ‘pay day’ to you huh?! It’s barely even worth _fifteen_ dollars! The only way that that bike would be worth fifty bucks would be if I had _thirty five_ bucks taped onto the handlebars!”  
   
He looked back at the two lanky skateboarders. “And since you two completely ruined my goddamn front wheel, I figure that fifteen bucks is _exactly_ what you would owe me.”  
   
Jimmy put his hand out, figuring that these two would pay up front for their stupid stunt. They must’ve gotten some cash from before with this dumb little con. He can’t have been the only one to fall for their stupid money scam…  
   
The two kids looked at each other for a spilt second before they grabbed their skateboards and ran away as fast as they could. Jimmy struggled to kick their boards away from them, but could only manage to get it a couple inches. He stood there, panting, watching the two skater bros ride off down the street. _Damnit._ Now he had a busted bike, scrapes on his hands and knees… _What else is new?_ Jimmy thought coldly.    
   
“I’ll take a check!” He yelled after them. Jimmy would get them back. Hopefully in due time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> boy just wait until chapter five. because these first few will seem so gentle to jim jam maggle. that boy will soon see how far his life goes down.
> 
> (and i know, i know its slow. i get u, but i feel the need to just kinda illustrate how jimmy just kinda works the system u kno. make friends and all of that good stuff. trust me tho, next chapter has weed and jimmy havin a bro moment w/ nacho)

**Author's Note:**

> well thats the end of this chapter, remember to rate the chapter, comment the chapter n subscribe if u wanna see chapters similar to this one. see ya.


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